Probably make an argument for a few different teams being the most popular. Least? I gotta say Colorado beats out KC. (Although their "gimmick of the week" attendence from last year could lead one to think otherwise...)
San Jose is more popular than KC because of Donovon. The MetroStars, DC, and LA are the most popular teams of the league.
Popularity wouldn't have anything to do with regional population would it? Regardless, nothing will change the fact that both KC and San Jose are ***************holes...
Winning championships always helps popularity, so I'd guess that the LA Galaxy might be the most popular at the moment. Historically they have had good attendances and good teams. DC United is very popular within their market as they have traditionally been a very strong attendance team, and outside of their market because they have won so many titles--including the MLS Championship three times. Big markets are, likewise, usually pretty popular even outside their market, because people without a team very often adopt New York or LA. Unpopular teams tend to be teams without big markets that do not win. KC would probably be the least "popular" but they won the MLS Championship in 2000, so even they have a following. Columbus is in the heart of sports-crazy Ohio in the same town as the rabbid Ohio State fans, and it's a populous state with many OSU alumni, so I seriously doubt the Crew are the least "popular." Denver isn't a huge market and the Rapids haven't won anything to my knowledge, so it would seem like a candidate, except that they topped the league in attendance last season, so it's probably not them. San Jose is in a large market (Oakland/San Francisco/San Jose) but is woefully supported at home. So they could be a candidate, but if you look at their away attendances you'll notice that people all over the country do want to see them, so they're not the least popular either. Pre-Yallop they might have been though. Dallas isn't the most popular team, but they do generate a lot of interest. Part of the reason the TV ratings in Houston are so high is that people there follow the Burn. So, much like the standings last season, I don't think there is a clear cut least favorite. But I do think there is probably two tiers of interest. The Galaxy, United, Metros, Chicago and the Revolution probably have the largest following nationally, and I'd guess that it's roughly in that order as well. The other tier that probably doesn't have quite as much popularity I would guess includes the Crew, Quakes, Burn, Rapids and Wizards. I'm less clear what the order would be though. -Tron
ne, la, ny, clb, dc and chi most popular kc, col, dallas, sj, least popular (these are the forgotten teams)
KC is not popular, but with the way they are selling season seats that will change unlike SJ where they have one of the league's top player in Donovan and the Rochester Rhinos still outdraw them.. In conclusion, Donovan is popular the Queefquakes are NOT.
I think away gate is a good gauge of a team's overall popularity, and last year the Fire led the league by a hair over SJ. Interesting. The Gals led the league in total overall avg attendance (both home and away). By reputation, my gut measures LA first, and KC last. The poor Wizards--even when they won the whole kahuna nobody seemed to know who they were.
Away gate results can be skewed though, as teams may play uneven amounts of midweek games away, play away at Colorado on July 4, play away at a doubleheader, etc. Over a long period of time this may even out, but given that the average MLS team has only played about 108 away games in their history - it would take a statistician to say whether or not the sample size is large enough to account for these kinds of variables. Still a pretty good thought as a rough gauge of overall popularity (who is "America's Team"). Also you have situations like Chicago - who sometimes have a capacity of 14,500 and other times only have about 5,000. Or LA, who will likely play a game or two at Cal State-Fullerton . . .
I'm going to propose a very anecdotal measure: how team logo merchandise sells on eBay. Based on that measure, it's clear to me that the Western Conference teams (apart from Los Angeles) have few fans, while the Eastern Conference teams have far more. For the moment, MLS Cup champions from the second-largest city in the country with the largest Hispanic population is probably the most popular. Again, for the moment, I'd have to say that Dallas, Colorado, San Jose and Kansas City are in a close four-way race for the booby prize. If I had to guess, I'd say Colorado, but the difference between #7 and #10 isn't much. I also agree with two earlier comments: Dallas and Colorado pad their attendance and distort their real fan base with one or two big games. This is a good thing for them to do, but don't be misled by averages that aren't representative. I also agree that the Crew is the closest thing that MLS has to a team that isn't a puny afterthought to it's local sports establishment.
For school were writing letters to other places in the USA. I'm sending two letters to Columbus and asked some questions about pro sports team so we'll see how many like the Crew
Take a look at the team forums. It looks like LA, Colorado, Dallas, and KC all have relatively few posts. So, in the hardcore English-speaking fan-internet geek population, those four are the least popular. But what's that mean now anyway? Dallas, Colorado and KC have all been forgotten teams with few season ticket holders, and LA has suffered from a lack of hardcore fans too. But Dallas has been growing support against all odds, Colorado's market is clearly receptive to watching soccer (I mean, people don't go to jersey night to watch a sport they don't like), KC's season ticket drive ought to change how we see KC fans, and LA's stadium has finally given people over there an incentive to step up. Of all, I do think LA is weirdly the least popular. They've had great teams with exciting players in a market that you'd expect to embrace soccer, but like I said, this year will probably change all that.
I'd offer than when factoring in the widest possible demographic, the Galaxy and D.C. United are the most "popular." I'd probably put Metro at #3, my own Revolution further down the line. The Magpie
Oh please. Get over yourselves. Its a tie: KC or Colorado. They're in our division but I really can't find anything interesting about these 2 teams.
You're right about Colorado doing this, but Dallas attendance has been consistently mediocre in the past. Most popular: LA Least popular: KC